Pressurized water powered sanding device

ABSTRACT

A pressurized water powered sanding device intended primarily for the cleaning of swimming pools, and comprising a supply of water under pressure, such as a pump, to the high pressure side of which a conduit is connected. This conduit extends to a water powered motor of the positive displacement type which is mounted in a suitable body. A hand operated control valve is included in this conduit to regulate the pressure and/or quantity of water delivered to the motor. A drive shaft depends vertically from the motor and drivably connected to the lower end thereof is a cleaning device such as a sander which is driven with an orbital, oscillatory or rotary motion. A skirt is adjustably mounted on the body and encloses the space below the body about the cleaning element. This skirt is formed with an outlet port to which a conduit extends to the low pressure side of a pump to provide a so-called vacuum condition within the skirt which causes the water therewithin to be at a pressure lower than that of ambient water. A control valve is included in this conduit and the adjustment thereof, together with adjusting the gap between the lower edge of the skirt and the surface to be cleaned, affords accurate control of the low pressure condition within the skirt. A manual handle has one end connected to the body.

United States Patent [1 1 Millett Dec. 30, 1975 PRESSURIZED WATERPOWERED SANDING DEVICE [76] Inventor: Dennis A. Millett, 4601 S. RitaLane, Tempe, Ariz. 85282 [22] Filed: Feb. 8, 1974 [21] Appl. No.2440,674

[52] US. Cl 51/170 T; 15/1.7; 15/385; 15/387 [51] Int. Cl. B24B 23/00[58] Field of Search..... 51/170 T, 170 TL, 170 MT, 51/273; 15/l.7, 321,387, 385, 383

Primary Examiner.lames L. Jones, Jr. Attorney, Agent, or Firm--Jonn A.Robertson [57] ABSTRACT A pressurized water powered sanding deviceintended primarily for the cleaning of swimming pools, and comprising asupply of water under pressure, such as a pump, to the high pressureside of which a conduit is connected. This conduit extends to a waterpowered motor of the positive displacement type which is mounted in asuitable body. A hand operated control valve is included in this conduitto regulate the pressure and/or quantity of water delivered to themotor. A drive shaft depends vertically from the motor and drivablyconnected to the lower end thereof is a cleaning device such as a sanderwhich is driven with an orbital, oscillatory or rotary motion. A skirtis adjustably mounted on the body and encloses the space below the bodyabout the cleaning element. This skirt is formed with an outlet port towhich a conduit extends to the low pressure side of a pump to provide asocalled vacuum condition within the skirt which causes the watertherewithin to be at a pressure lower than that of ambient water. Acontrol valve is included in this conduit and the adjustment thereof,together with adjusting the gap between the lower edge of the skirt andthe surface to be cleaned, affords accurate control of the low pressurecondition within the skirt. A manual handle has one end connected to thebody.

15 Claims, 6 Drawing Figures U.S. Patent Dec. 30, 1975 Shee t10f2 US.Patent Dec. 30, 1975 Sheet20f2 3,928,947

?'7 PIN PRESSURIZED WATER POWERED SANDING DEVICE The present inventionrelates to water powered motor cleaning devices and is concernedprimarily with a device of this character which is particularly adaptedto the cleaning of swimming pools.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION At the present time, the known art isreplete with numerous examples of brushes which are activated by waterpowered motors. Moreover, certain of such cleaning devices are intendedsquarely for the cleaning of swimming pools. All of the now knowndevices of this character for cleaning swimming pools include one ormore brushes as the cleaning element. While brushes may be effective toremove foreign matter of a coarse nature from the surface of the pool,it is almost totally ineffective to remove fine particles of dirt andpther matter which has entered the interstices of the plaster with whichswimming pool surfaces are ordinarily lined. Such fine particles becomeembedded in the interstices and it is totally impossible to remove themwith a brush. Thus, an abrasive cleaning device such as a sander orgrinder is indicated as being desirable if not necessary to literallygrind off or remove an outer film or layer from the plaster lining so asto take with the film the particles which are embedded therein.

If a sander is to be effective to achieve the desired grinding action,it must be biased against the work surface with an appreciable degree ofpressure. When a cleaning implement of any type is immersed in water, itdisplaces an amount of water equal to its volume and the effectiveweight of the cleaning implement is reduced by the weight of the waterwhich it displaces. Thus, considerable pressure must be applied to thecleaning implement if the sander is to perform its grinding functions.The known art is lacking in any structural arrangement for applying suchpressure other than a handle which applies the pressure manually. Thus,a cleaning implement which is structurally designed to generate a vacuumor low pressure condition which biases the sanding device against thework surface is indicated as being highly desirable.

In the known swimming pool cleaning apparatus, the water motors whichdrive the brushes are turbines. When the cleaning element encounters awork surface which results in an increased load on the turbine, thelatter is effective to generate a torque which is only slightly greaterthan that normally generated thereby. This is in marked contrast to theincrease in torque which is provided by a positive displacement motorwhen an increased load is placed thereon.

Another defect in the known swimming pool cleaning devices in which thecleaning element is driven by a water motor is that the turbine of sucha motor is driven by water that is sucked or drawn through the turbine.Thus, the turbine casing is connected to a low pressure side of a pump.This means that there is a decided limitation on the power which can besupplied by such a turbine because it is limited by atmosphericpressure. This is in marked contrast to the power which may be derivedfrom the high pressure side of the pump. In the latter case, the limitis determined only by the structural characteristics of the motor andthe pressure source.

In cleaning a swimming pool surface, the motion of the cleaning elementshould be of the type which is particularly adapted to the work surface.Thus, under some conditions, the cleaning element should operate with arotary motion. Under other conditions, with an oscillatory motion, andstill others, with an orbital motron.

OBJECTS OF THE INVENTION With the foregoing conditions in mind, thepresent invention has in view the following objectives:

1. To provide a swimming pool cleaning device which includes a positivedisplacement water powered motor which drives a cleaning element.

2. To provide, in swimming pool cleaning apparatus of the type noted, apositive displacement water powered motor which is connected to the highpressure side of a pump.

3. To provide, a swimming pool cleaning apparatus of the characteraforesaid, a conduit which connects the water powered motor to a sourceof water under pressure such as a pump and which includes a handoperated valve for controlling the supply of water to the motor.

4. To provide, in swimming pool cleaning apparatus of the kinddescribed, a body in which the motor is mounted and from which a driveshaft depends, with the lower end of the drive shaft being drivablyconnected to a cleaning element, together with a skirt which. isadjustably mounted on the body, depends therefrom and encloses a spaceabout the cleaning element.

5. To provide swimming pool cleaning apparatus of the type noted inwhich the skirt is formed with an outlet port and a conduit is connectedto this port and extends to a device for creating a vacuum or lowpressure condition therein.

6. To provide, in swimming pool cleaning apparatus of the kinddescribed, a control valve in said conduit which, together with theadjustable skirt, constitutes means for controlling the pressurecondition within the skirt.

7. To provide, in swimming pool cleaning apparatus of the characteraforesaid, a cleaning element in the form of an abrasive device such asa sander or grinder.

8. To provide, in swimming pool cleaning apparatus of the type noted,mechanism for moving the cleaning device with either a rotary,oscillatory or orbital motion.

9. To provide swimming pool cleaning apparatus of the kind describedwhich includes a handle extending from the body which is adapted formanual manipulation.

Various other more detailed objects and advantages of the invention,such as arise in connection with carrying out the above ideas in apractical embodiment, will, in part, become apparent and, in part, behereafter stated as the description of the invention proceeds.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The foregoing objects are achieved by providingswimming pool cleaning apparatus comprising a body which is preferablycircular and to which an elongate handle is pivotally connected. Mountedin this body is a positive displacement water motor together with aconduit which is connected at one end to the inlet of the motor and atthe other end a source of water under pressure such as the high pressureside of a pump. A

3 manually operable control valve is included in this conduit. The bodyis formed with a passage extending from the outlet of the motor to theexternal surface of the body.

A drive shaft depends from the motor by which is it driven and extendsbeyond the lower surface of the body. Drivably connected to the lowerend of this drive shaft is a cleaning element such as a sander. Thisconnection may be the direct keying of the sander in disc form to thedrive shaft. It also may be achieved by mechanism providing anoscillatory motion of the sander or by connections providing orbitalmotion of the sander.

Adjustably mounted on the body and depending therebelow is a skirt whichextends substantially to the level of the sander and in operation willbe slightly spaced from the work surface to provide a small gap betweenthe work surface and the lower edge of the skirt. The skirt is formedwith an outlet opening and connected thereto is one end of a conduitwhich extends to the lower pressure side of a pump.

In a refined embodiment of the invention, the operating member for thevalve which controls the supply of water to the motor takes the form ofan arm which is pivotally mounted in the body, together with means forholding the arm in an adjusted position.

In operation the sander is imparted movement by the water motor and avacuum condition is created with the skirt above the sander by thesuction in the conduit connected to the skirt outlet. Water is drawninto this area through the gap between the lower edge of the skirt andthe work surface and carries away particles removed by the sander. Thevacuum or low pressure condition within the skirt biases the sanderagainst the work surface with the degree of such biasing beingcontrolled by the gap aforesaid and the control valve for the suctionconduit.

For a full and more complete understanding of the invention, referencemay be had to the following description and the accompanying drawingswherein:

FIG. 1 is a perspective of swimming pool cleaning apparatus made inaccordance with the precepts of this invention as immersed in the waterof a swimming pool;

FIG. 2 is a vertical section on an enlarged scale, being taken on theplane of the line 22 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a schematic view diagrammatically depicting the essentialelements of the subject cleaning apparatus;

FIG. 4 is a perspective illustrating a portion of the connectionsbetween the sander and the drive shaft which impart an oscillatorymovement to the sander;

FIG. 5 is a view partly in vertical section and partly in elevation,being taken on the plane of the lines 55 of FIG. 4; and

FIG. 6 is a perspective depicting the connections imparting an orbitalmovement to the sander.

DESCRIPTION or THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Referring now to the drawings,wherein like reference characters denote corresponding elementsthroughout the several views, and first more particularly to FIG. 3, thesubject swimming pool cleaning apparatus is shown as comprisingessentially a body 10 in which is mounted a positive displacement watermotor 11. Extending from the inlet of motor 11 is a flexible conduit 12which is connected to the high pressure side of a pump 13. From thelatter the conduit extends to a suitable source of water supply whichmay be the water in the swimming pool being cleaned. Included in conduit12 is a control valve 14. Depending from motor 11 and extending belowbody is a drive shaft 15 which is driven by motor 11. Drivably mountedon the lower end of drive shaft 15 is a cleaning element in the form ofa sander 16 which is illustrated as a disc. A skirt l7 depends from body10 on which it is adjustably mounted and extends to a point where itslower edge is slightly spaced from a work surface which is designated18. Skirt 17 is formed with an outlet 19 to which one end of a flexibleexhaust conduit 20 is connected. The other end of conduit 20 isconnected to the low pressure side of pump 13 which delivers the waterwhich passes therethrough to any appropriate point of disposal. Thisdisposal may be the swimming pool and the conduit from the high pressureside of pump 13 will in such case include a filter or screen forremoving particles from the water which is delivered back to theswimming pool.

Referring now more particularly to FIG. 2, body 10 is shown as circularand presents an outer cylindrical surface 22 and a lower surface 23.Body 10 is formed with a central socket or recess 24 in which motor 11is positioned.

At this point it is well to note that the water motor 1 1 is a positivedisplacement motor as compared to a turbine. There are at least threetypes of positive displacement motors which are now well known andavailable to the public. Hence, it is deemed unnecessary to hereinillustrate and describe details thereof. The types referred to are gearmotors, rotary vane motors and piston motors.

An inlet for motor 1 1 is indicated at 25 and extending from this inlet25 is a passage 26 which is formed in body 10. Conduit 12 is connectedto the outer end of this passage 16.

The valve shown at 14 in FIG. 3 is removed an appreciable distance frombody 10 as illustrated in FIG. 1. It is intended that this valve beadjusted at only infrequent intervals. FIG. 2 illustrates a second valve27 which is included in passage 26 and which is operated by an arm 28that is pivotally mounted on the body as indicated at 29. Arm 28 ispositioned within a space or recess provided by a hand grip 30 which isformed integral with body 10. The end of this grip 30 remote from pivot29 is formed with a series of teeth or notches 31, any of which isadapted to receive one end of a pin 32 which is reciprocal in the end ofarm 28 and biased outwardly by a spring 33. The notches 31 and pin 32constitute means for holding the arm 28 in an adjusted position andhence an adjusted position of valve 27. If desired, an operating memberfor moving pin 32 against the bias of spring 33 may be provided by amember having one end connected to pin 32 and passing through a slot ingrip 30 with a finger-engaging tab 34 on its outer end. The outlet formotor 11 is indicated at 35 and extending therefrom is a passage 36which opens onto the cylindrical surface 22 of body 10 as indicated atFIG. 2.

A drive shaft 37 depends from motor 11 by which it is driven. It extendsan appreciable distance below the lower surface 23 of body 10 and at itslower end carries a cleaning element which in FIG. 2 is shown as asander disc 38 which is keyed to shaft 37 as indicated at 39.

At this point it is well to note that while the present inventionindicates that a sander is the preferred cleaning element, other novelfeatures of the invention are susceptible of use when the cleaningelement takes the form of a brush. Also, disc 38 may be replaced bysanders of rectangular formation as illustrated in FIGS.

4, and 6 to be later described.

The skirt 17 includes a cylindrical collar 41, which may be split topermit expansion and contraction thereof, and a conical portion 42. Thisskirt 17 may be of a rigid material, such as metal or plastic, or may beof a flexible material, such as leather or a flexible plastic. In eithercase, it is secured in position on body by a clamping ring 43 which istightened by brackets 44 and a screw or bolt 45 in a well known manner.It is evident that skirt 17 may be adjusted so that its lower edge 46 isat a required distance from work surface 18 and the adjustment securedby tightening screw 45.

The conical portion 42 is formed with an outlet opening 47 to whichconduit 20 is connected. A valve 48 is included in conduit 20. It isevident that with pump 13 creating a suction or low pressure in conduit20, water will be withdrawn from the space within conical portion 42 ofskirt 17. This creates low pressure condition within the skirt whichcauses water to be drawn from the ambient space through the gap betweenedge 46 and work surface 18.

An elongate handle 49 has one end pivotally mounted on body 10 asindicated at 50 and its other end deformed into a hand grip 51.

FIRST MODIFICATION Referring now more particularly to FIGS. 4 and 5, amodified form of the sander and its connections to drive shaft 37 willbe described. The sander is shown as being rectangular in shape and isdesignated 52. Projecting from the upper surface of sander 52 is a ribstructure 53 of elongate shape having rounded ends and arrangedtransversely of sander 52. Rib structure 53 defines a transverse recess54 which receives the lower end portion of a stud 55. The latter iscarried at one end of an arm 56, with the other end of arm 56 beingkeyed to the lower end of drive shaft 37.

Projecting above the upper face of sander 52 are two additional ribstructures 57 and 58. Each of these rib structures 57 and 58 defines anelongate recess 59, with the recess 59 receiving the lower ends of guidepins 60 which depend from body 10. Four flexible struts 61 have theirupper ends secured to bottom surface 23 of body 10 and their lower endsto the upper surface of sander 52. While the mode of operation of themechanism disclosed in FIGS. 4 and 5 is believed to be obvious, it isnoted that as drive shaft 37 rotates, arm 56 rotates. As this latterrotation occurs, stud 55 will move back and forth in recess 54, whilesander 52 will oscillate in a so-called longitudinal direction, withsuch movement being controlled by slots 59 and guide pins 60.

SECOND MODIFICATION FIG. 6 illustrates the connections between thesander and drive shaft 37 for imparting orbital motion to the sander.Thus, sander 62 is formed with a central cylindrical projection 63presenting a bore 64 which receives a pin 65, the upper end of which isconnected to an arm 66, with the other end of arm 66 being keyed todrive shaft 37. Four vertical flexible struts which are identical to thestruts 61 shown in FIG. 5 connect sander 62 with body l0.

OPERATION While the mode of operation and manner of using the subjectswimming pool cleaner is believed to be obvious from the illustration ofthe drawings and description of parts given, they may be brieflydescribed as follows.

FIG. 1 illustrates, somewhat diagrammatically, a swimming pool 9containing water 8 and presenting surfaces 7 to be cleaned by thesubject cleaner.

Valve 14 is first availed of to adjust the pressure and amount of watercoming from pump 13. Skirt 17 is also adjusted to provide a desiredextent of the gap between its edge 46 and work surface 18. Valve 48 isalso adjusted to provide a required low pressure condition inInoperation, as the drive shaft 37 rotates, arm 66 is rotated to impartan orbital motion to sander 62.

conduit 20. The operator now grasps hand grip 51 of handle 49 to immersebody 10 into the water 8 so that any of the sanders 38, 52 or 62 engagesa work surface 7. Just before this is done, arm 28 may be availed of tooperate valve 27 and give a finer adjustment of the water pressure thatis supplied to motor 11. As motor 11 operates, drive shaft 37 isrotated, which in turn rotates sander disc 38 or imparts an oscillatorymotion to sander 52 or an orbital motion to sander 62. With pump 13 inoperation, a low pressure condition is created within conical portion 42of skirt 17 which performs two functions. In the first instance, itdraws water through the gap between edge 46 and work surface 18 toentrain particles of matter which are removed by the sanding operation.These particles are removed as the water is sucked out of outlet 47.This low pressure condition within the skirt 17 also biases the sanderagainst the work surface 7 to the degree of such biasing depending onthe pressure condition within the skirt. This latter function is adecided advantage because it relieves the operator of the necessity ofapplying undue pressure by way of handle 49., and it is to be rememberedthat an effective sanding operation requires a proper degree of pressureof the sander against the work surface.

With the motor 11 being :a positive displacement motor, it will readilygenerate any torque which is necessary to accommodate increased loadscreated by variations in the work condition. Also, by having conduit 12connected to the high pressure side of pump 13, there is for allpractical purposes no limit on the water pressure which may be appliedto motor 11.

While preferred specific embodiments are herein disclosed, it is to beclearly understood that the inven tion is not to be limited to the exactconstructions, mechanisms and devices illustrated and described becausevarious modifications of these details may be provided in putting theinvention into practice.

What is claimed is:

1. In apparatus for cleaning swimming pool surfaces while said surfacesare under water,

a. a body presenting a peripheral surface and a bottom surface;

b. a water powered motor carried by said body and having a water inletand a water outlet;

c. a pump having a low pressure side and a high pressure side providedby said pump;

d. a flexible conduit having one end connected to said pump at the highpressure side thereof, with the other end of said conduit beingconnected to the water inlet of said motor;

e. a skirt mounted on said body, depending below said bottom surfacethereof and presenting an edge 7 which is spaced from a swimming poolsurface a slight distance to provide a narrow gap between said edge andsaid pool surface;

f. a drive shaft having one end operatively connected to said motor bywhich it is driven and extending beyond said bottom surface of the bodysubstantially to the plane of said skirt edge;

g. a cleaning element;

h. mechanism drivably connecting said cleaning element to said driveshaft at the end of the latter remote from said motor;

i. a water outlet in said skirt;

j. a source of low pressure;

k. a flexible conduit having one end connected to said source of lowpressure, with its other end being connected to the water outlet of saidskirt, and

l. a handle connected to said body, whereby a low pressure is created inthe water within said skirt as compared to the pressure of ambient wateras water is supplied therefrom through said outlet, and ambient water isdrawn through said gap and entrains particles removed from the poolsurface being cleaned by said cleaning element.

2. The apparatus of claim.l, together with means to adjust the skirtrelative to the body and thereby adjust the gap between the edge of theskirt and the surface being cleaned.

3. The apparatus of claim 2 in which said body is circular, saidperipheral surface is cylindrical and said skirt includes'a cylindricalportion that is clamped to the cylindrical surface of said body and aconical portion presenting the edge which cooperates with the poolsurface in providing said gap.

4. The apparatus of claim 1 in which the cleaning element takes the formof a sander.

5. The apparatus of claim 1 in which the cleaning element is circularand the mechanism which drivably connects the cleaning element to thedrive shaft includes means for imparting a rotary motion to the cleaningelement.

6. The apparatus of claim 1 in which the mechanism which drivablyconnects the cleaning element to the drive shaft includes means forimparting oscillatory motion to the cleaning element.

7. The apparatus of claim 1 in which the mechanism which drivablyconnects the cleaning element to the drive shaft includes means toimpart ortibal motion to the cleaning element.

8. The apparatus of claim 1 in which the water powered motor is apositive displacement motor.

9. The apparatus of claim 1, together with a control valve included inthe conduit from the high pressure side of said pump to said waterpowered motor.

10. The apparatus of claim 1, together with a control valve in theconduit between the source of low pressure and the outlet of said skirt.

11. The apparatus of claim 1 in which the source of low pressure is thelow pressure side of said pump.

12. The apparatus of claim 9 in which the valve which controls the flowof water to said motor has an operating arm that is pivotally mounted insaid body, together with means for holding said arm in an adjustedposition.

13. The apparatus of claim 6 in which the sander is rectangular inshape.

14. The apparatus of claim 7 in which the sander is rectangular inshape.

15. The apparatus of claim 9, together with a control valve in theconduit between the source of low pressure and the outlet of the skirt.

1. In apparatus for cleaning swimming pool surfaces while said surfacesare under water, a. a body presenting a peripheral surface and a bottomsurface; b. a water powered motor carried by said body and having awater inlet and a water outlet; c. a pump having a low pressure side anda high pressure side provided by said pump; d. a flexible conduit havingone end connected to said pump at the high pressure side thereof, withthe other end of said conduit being connected to the water inlet of saidmotor; e. a skirt mounted on said body, depending below said bottomsurface thereof and presenting an edge which is spaced from a swimmingpool surface a slight distance to provide a narrow gap between said edgeand said pool surface; f. a drive shaft having one end operativelyconnected to said motor by which it is driven and extending beyond saidbottom surface of the body substantially to the plane of said skirtedge; g. a cleaning element; h. mechanism drivably connecting saidcleaning element to said drive shaft at the end of the latter remotefrom said motor; i. a water outlet in said skirt; j. a source of lowpressure; k. a flexible conduit having one end connected to said sourceof low pressure, with its other end being connected to the water outletof said skirt, and l. a handle connected to said body, whereby a lowpressure is created in the water within said skirt as compared to thepressure of ambient water as water is supplied therefrom through saidoutlet, and ambient water is drawn through said gap and entrainsparticles removed from the pool surface being cleaned by said cleaningelement.
 2. The apparatus of claim 1, together with means to adjust theskirt relative to the body and thereby adjust the gap between the edgeof the skirt and the surface being cleaned.
 3. The apparatus of claim 2in which said body is circular, said peripheral surface is cylindricaland said skirt includes a cylindrical portion that is clamped to thecylindrical surface of said body and a conical portion presenting theedge which cooperates with the pool surface in providing said gap. 4.The apparatus of claim 1 in which the cleaning element takes the form ofa sander.
 5. The apparatus of claim 1 in which the cleaning element iscircular and the mechanism which drivably connects the cleaning elementto the drive shaft includes means for imparting a rotary motion to thecleaning element.
 6. The apparatus of claim 1 in which the mechanismwhich drivably connects the cleaning element to the drive shaft includesmeans for imparting oscillatory motion to the cleaning element.
 7. Theapparatus of claim 1 in which the mechanism which drivably connects thecleaning element to the drive shaft iNcludes means to impart ortibalmotion to the cleaning element.
 8. The apparatus of claim 1 in which thewater powered motor is a positive displacement motor.
 9. The apparatusof claim 1, together with a control valve included in the conduit fromthe high pressure side of said pump to said water powered motor.
 10. Theapparatus of claim 1, together with a control valve in the conduitbetween the source of low pressure and the outlet of said skirt.
 11. Theapparatus of claim 1 in which the source of low pressure is the lowpressure side of said pump.
 12. The apparatus of claim 9 in which thevalve which controls the flow of water to said motor has an operatingarm that is pivotally mounted in said body, together with means forholding said arm in an adjusted position.
 13. The apparatus of claim 6in which the sander is rectangular in shape.
 14. The apparatus of claim7 in which the sander is rectangular in shape.
 15. The apparatus ofclaim 9, together with a control valve in the conduit between the sourceof low pressure and the outlet of the skirt.